Ukigumo (Floating Clouds) poster & wallpaper
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Hideko Takamine, Masayuki Mori, Daisuke Katô, Chieko Nakakita, Isao Yamagata ... see more see more... , Mariko Okada

Floating Clouds is set in the dissolution of Japanese society after the war. Yukiko wanders figuratively and literally through a devastated Tokyo searching for a means of existence and comfort. At all... read more read more... turns, she is manipulated by men and forced to submit to their manipulations when she is unable to support herself. Returning to Tokyo at the end of the war, Yukiko tries to get a number of jobs but none of her attempts are successful. As a result she turns to prostitution, catering to American occupation forces. During this time a number of men, including her brother-in-law and her former lover Tomioka, come forward to help her, but their generosity is only a mask for their sexual desires. Eventually Tomioka's wife dies and he takes Yukiko to an island where he is to begin a new job. Their happiness is forestalled when Yukiko, sorely tried by her life, falls ill and dies. ~ Brian Whitener, Rovi

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82% liked it

515 ratings

Unrated, 2 hr. 3 min.

Directed by: Mikio Naruse

Release Date: January 1, 1955

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Flixster Reviews (32)

  • fb100000496792525
    May 10, 2011
    fb100000496792525
    Melodrama with very rare sensibility and tremendously affecting performances.
  • columbiatch
    March 20, 2008
    columbiatch
    This is definitely the most melodramatic Naruse I've seen thus far. That aside, the two protagonists here are arguable the most complex and nuanced. Naruse presents them as very flawed individuals who despite their feelings toward each other, constantly put each other down while ... read moreharming the people around them. This is very much a self destructive romance between a weak willed and selfish man and a strong woman who cannot abandon her love for him. It's interesting Masayuki Mori plays the man in that he comes to the same realization of how he took his wife for granted in here as in the character he played in Ugetsu. Props to Hideko Takamine for a terrific performance.

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Critic Reviews

Keith Uhlich
November 8, 2005
Keith Uhlich, Slant Magazine

A colleague astutely described Floating Clouds's ever-deepening sense of detachment as a precursor to Fassbinder. Full Review

Dave Kehr
December 6, 2005
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

Click to read the article Full Review

Leo Goldsmith
August 17, 2007
Leo Goldsmith, Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Click to read the article Full Review

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